


Understanding In the Middle of the Night

by Yukito



Category: Brave (2012)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-21
Updated: 2012-12-21
Packaged: 2017-11-21 21:16:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/602164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yukito/pseuds/Yukito
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Merida's been tired lately and Elinor just wants to make sure everything's okay.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Understanding In the Middle of the Night

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bewize](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bewize/gifts).



“Merida!” Elinor’s voice echoed throughout the castle. It reached into every nook and cranny and finally reached the red-headed princess who was still in her bed, under the covers, trying to sleep in. Merida didn’t know how early it was, but from the light in the sky it had to be pretty early.

Merida exhaled loudly and turned in her bed, pulling the blanket over her head and mumbling something about sleep. She was tired. She knew it was because she had been sneaking out of the castle late at night to practice her sword and archery skills in the dark under the skies. Ever since she had heard her father say that ‘a true warrior can fight with his eyes closed’ she had been determined to be just as skilled. Merida told herself it had nothing at all to do with the fact she also met up with a local village boy who was helping her practice. Nothing at all.

“Merida!” Elinor’s voice rang out again which caused Merida to groan and hold her pillow over her head.

“ _Merida._.” Elinor entered her daughters room fully dressed and completely put together as every good queen should be. The sun was just about to rise over the ridge and it was time for Merida to get up. “If you’re intent on being your own princess, then you need to start getting up and learning your roles and responsibilities.”

Elinor was glad that the trouble between her and her daughter over the whole suitor thing had faded, but Merida was still a child and she could still be a handful at times. Even with the bear incident, Elinor could tell that Merida, as most children, was not aware that her parents would one day be gone. If Elinor couldn’t have solace in the fact that Merida had a king to take care of herself, then she was going to make sure her daughter could fend for herself and not just with a weapon.

“But, _mom_ ” Merida grumbled into the bed.

Before she knew it, her blankets went flying off the bed which left Merida on her bed in her nightgown exposed to the cool air of the castle. Merida let out a small shriek and stood up on her bed, wide awake. Now Merida knew it was definitely early in the morning since the air was cold. 

“Good.” Elinor smiled at her daughter. “Now that you’re up, we can get you dressed.”

“Can’t I sleep in just this once?” Merida looked hopefully at her mother who had turned and started to pick out clothing for the day.

“Merida, I let you sleep in yesterday and the day before. Honestly.” 

Elinor turned around and held out one of the more feminine dresses that they owned. Merida took one look at it and made a face which made Elinor sigh and turn back around to pick out the attire she knew her daughter would prefer. It wasn’t that Elinor didn’t like that her daughter chose more boy-like clothing. It was just that Merida was her only daughter and Elinor liked to see Merida in dresses like most mothers would.

When she turned back around, Elinor found that her daughter had re-assembled the sheets on her bed and was asleep again. She rolled her eyes and sighed. She’d give her daughter another half hour.

~*~

Merida came home from her late night excursion with a bright smile on her face. She was full of adrenaline. Tonight she had finally gotten a bulls-eye on one of the more difficult targets set up in one of the trees that dotted the hill she and the village boy, Corin, had set up. She had been so happy she had laughed and shouted alongside Corin for a good ten minutes before both of them agreed it was getting late and they needed to return home.

When Merida returned home, climbing up and into the window of her room, she found her mother standing in the middle of the room with her arms crossed, foot tapping, and an unhappy expression on her face. Merida swallowed hard as she hopped onto the floor of her room. Whatever good mood she had been in had now sobered.

“Hi, mom.” Merida offered a smile to try and appease her mother and wiggled her fingers in a wave. 

Elinor didn’t respond the way Merida had hoped. Elinor simply looked over her daughter, took in the weapons she had with her, and pointed to the privacy screen to indicate Merida needed to get ready for bed.

“Merida. I can’t believe you were out so late! Where were you? What were you doing? Do you know how _dangerous_ it is out there?”

“Yes, _mom_.” Merida responded from behind the screen. Her dirty clothing went flying over the side and her clean nightgown disappeared. “Or don’t you remember our trip into the woods a few months back.”

Elinor sighed. Yes, she did. She might have been a bear, but she remembered.

“Merida. Just... you can’t be sneaking out like that. No one knows where you are.” Elinor worried. “What were you even doing?”

Merida emerged from behind the screen with her face washed and in her nightgown. She padded over to the bed and climbed inside. “I was just practicing my bow and arrow, mom. I promise. I was safe. I didn’t go out of the kingdom or anything.”

“Please promise you won’t do it again.”

“But mom -!”

“Merida.” Elinor lifted a hand to stop her daughter. “Promise me.”

Merida’s lip pressed into a pout and she stared at her mother for a long moment before she huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. “Fine.”

“Thank you.” Elinor smiled to her daughter and walked over, leaning down to place a kiss on the top of Merida’s red hair. “Good night.”

~*~

It wasn’t that Merida wanted to defy her mother, necessarily. It was that she had to go and tell Corin that she wasn’t allowed to meet him anymore. That was the excuse Merida told herself as she walked up the hill to the small area illuminated only by the moon and a very small fire that she and Corin always made to keep warm during rest periods.

When she got to the top of the hill, Corin was there waiting for her with his own wooden practice sword. He wasn’t that good with a sword yet, but Merida had been teaching him and he was getting better. She looked forward to teaching him almost as much as she looked forward to shooting her bow and arrow. 

“Corin.” She whispered loudly as she approached. Merida couldn’t help but let a small smile seep through even though she had come on a serious note.

“Merida!” Corin responded enthusiastically. “I was starting to think you weren’t coming tonight.”

She paused and scratched her arm as she looked off to the side.

Corin frowned in confusion. “Where’s your sword?” He noticed she didn’t have her bow either.

“The thing is... my mother found out.” Merida already felt bad about this. The pit in her stomach grew as she spoke. “She made me promise not to come here anymore, so...”

Corin’s face fell. He was disappointed, but he also knew the story of Merida and her mother – everyone in the kingdom did – and it made sense as to why Merida would want to keep this promise. Corin put on a brave face and nodded.

“Goodbye, then...” Corin would miss her a lot. He enjoyed spending time with Merida and not just because he was learning how to fight.

“Yeah.”Merida nodded, frowning. “Goodbye.”

Merida turned around and when her back was to Corin, she let her full frown emerge. She had no idea why she felt terrible. It wasn’t just disappointment, it was something else. She felt sad. Merida realized she was almost on the verge of crying as she walked down the hill when suddenly she heard her name being whispered and Merida came to a halt.

She squinted her eyes as she searched in the darkness and suddenly her eyebrows lifted in surprise. “ _Mom_ >?!” She whispered loudly.

“Shhh.” Elinor brought her finger to her lips.

Merida was confused and could not believe that her mother was out there in the middle of the night. She felt a flare of outrage, but it quickly died when she realized her mother brought her weapons and rage was replaced with utter confusion.

“Mom?”

Elinor smiled to her daughter as she crouched down to talk to her daughter one-on-one. There was something in her eyes that Merida hadn’t seen before.

“Merida. I had a feeling you were going to go out again.”

“Mom, I swear, I’ll keep my promise. I was just – I needed to tell Corin I wasn’t going to come anymore.”

Elinor had followed Merida because she had had a feeling her daughter was going to disobey her. At first, she had been upset and a few times she had been tempted to stop her daughter’s journey and drag her back to the castle. Elinor was glad that she hadn’t. She had followed Merida up the hill and saw the boy. She had seen how both of them looked at each other. It was a look two young people got when they had feelings for one another but were not yet aware. A look she remembered having a long, long time ago in what seemed like another life.

“Merida. Listen to me.” Elinor’s voice was soft. “I don’t like that you sneak out of the castle at night. Going out your window is dangerous and there are a number of people lurking around at night who could wish you harm.”

Merida opened her mouth to retort, but Elinor pressed on.

“But you should be allowed to spend time with your friend.”

“Corin.” Merida interjected. 

Elinor nodded. “Corin.”

Merida looked at her mother, confused. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying, Merida,” Elinor spoke as she held out her daughters weapons. “That I left a few guards down at the bottom of the hill. They’ll escort you here and back at night, but you’ll have the top of the hill to yourself.”

Merida’s mouth dropped open. She could not believe what she just heard. Elinor laughed softly at her daughter’s reaction and held up the weapons a bit more.

“Go on, then. Take these and have fun with Corin.”

Merida’s heart swelled. She scrambled to take the weapons and then she wrapped her arms around her mother’s neck and hugged her tightly.

“Thank you, mother.” Merida closed her eyes and not for the first time was glad to have Elinor as her mother. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Merida.”

**Author's Note:**

> I really wanted to focus on the interaction between Merida and Elinor. Like every mother/daughter relationship, it's never perfect, even if your mother got turned into a bear. I wanted to show how both Merida and Elinor had matured since the experience while offering a glimpse into their ever-complicated relationship.


End file.
